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Upgrade your iPod/MP3 player listening experience with the Klipsch S4 in-ear headphones
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Everywhere I go people are listening to music. Whether it be out walking the dog, at the gym or sitting in the park, they usually have earbuds in their ears as they listen. More often than not it’s the ubiquitous white Apple earbuds that I see. That isn’t too surprising as though there are other MP3 music players for sale, Apple has over 70% of the market with the iPod. What is so surprising is that so many people use the standard earbuds that come with the iPod. They don’t sound that very good and to make matters worse, they are really uncomfortable. Here’s a story about a great alternative.
Klipsch has been in business producing premium quality audio components since 1946. They started out making speakers, and over the years they’ve branched out to a wide range of audio products. Their products cover a large range of solutions that are designed for any life-style, application and budget.
The product I'm going to tell you about today are their Image S4 in-ear headphones. These headphones were designed by Klipsch to provide a much better listening experience than the standard earbuds that ship with iPods and other MP3 players. The concept is to provide much better sound quality at an affordable price.
When Klipsch offered me the opportunity to try these, I initially told them I wasn’t interested because I find in-ear headphones very uncomfortable. My Klipsch contact person told me that these are different and I should try them. I relented. Why are they different? They use a patent pending oval ear tip. As it turns out, nearly everyone has oval-shaped ear canals.
Klipsch
Back in 2007 when Klipsch engineers started looking at the headphone market their engineers were astounded to find two things: Ear canals are oval and no one was manufacturing an oval ear tip. This was quite a revelation to me and it really started to make sense. I knew why standard earbuds, like Apple’s were uncomfortable, they are hard and one size is supposed to fit all. All the higher quality in-ear headphones fit better, but were still quite uncomfortable after wearing for a while. I gave up on them and started wearing over the ear headphones all the time. Now I know why the earbuds were so uncomfortable, I have oval ear canals.
An additional huge advantage of the oval tip design is a better seal, while they remain comfortable. Why is a better seal important? If the headphones don’t seal well we lose bass. Bass response is sort of the holy grail of headphones and it’s very hard to achieve at all, no less when you have a less than optimal seal in the ear. Also, a good seal means less intrusion of ambient sound or noise, this is a huge plus, especially in noisy environments.
So these fit great, they are comfortable, seal well and stay in place. This is a very good thing. In addition to the oval design, Klipsch provides three different size ear tips with the headphones. It’s easy to find the right size to comfortably fit virtually any ear.
Now let’s back up a little and talk about some other features and benefits of these headphones:
Packaging
When I opened the shipping box I was extremely pleased to see that the Image S4 headphones didn’t come in a blister pack. I hate blister packs, they are no fun to wrestle with and cutting them open can be quite a dangerous task. Kudos go to Klipsch on the nice packaging.
Esthetics
These are very nice looking headphones, very attractive in black and silver. They have a very high quality look and feel to them, they feel like a quality product. The materials used were not skimped on, befitting their not insignificant selling price.
Klipsch
Carrying case
An aluminum carrying case is included. The case has a padded interior to hold a cleaning tool, the extra ear tips as well as the headphones when they aren't being used. While the case will protect the headphones, I'm not crazy about it. It reminds me of an Altoids tin and it is kind of bulky. I travel a lot and space savings is a concern of mine when packing. I would have preferred a leather or vinyl zipper type case. Regardless, it will keep everything together and protected.
Speaker technology
When you first see the S4 headphones you notice they are far from the smallest in-ear headphones you’ve ever seen. There’s a reason for this. The housings are larger because each one uses a Klipsch exclusive dual-magnet micro speaker. By giving these micro-speakers larger diaphragms the S4 headphones provide more output as well as better musical accuracy and bass response compared to other headphones in their price range.
Ease of use
My experience with these headphones was quite pleasant. I opened the package easily, popped the headphones and carrying case out of the package, experimented with the various ear tips to find the best fit and hooked them up to one of my iPods. There really isn’t anything difficult here. Finding the best size ear tip to use and plugging it in is the extent of using the product. That’s a good thing, because the provided instruction sheet is minimalist at best. I would have liked to have see an explanation of the ear tips, getting the right seal and why it’s important to have a good fit.
What’s in the box:
- Image S4 Headphones
- Small/medium dual flange ear tips
- Medium and large single flange ear tips
- Ear tip cleaning tool
- Crush-resistant aluminum case
Conclusion
Hands down, these are the most comfortable in-ear headphones I've ever used! Sound wise they sound quite good and the sound quality is about what you’d expect for their price. They do have very nice bass response and mid-range as well. If I had to nitpick I'd say they fall a little short in the higher range. To get the most out of them, remember to make sure you have a good seal.
Are these the best in-ear headphones available on the market? No, you can get better quality sound but you will pay for it. In fact, when it comes to audio, there is always something better and more expensive. These are a huge improvement over any earbuds included with an iPod or other MP3 type player. For $79.99 (U.S. MSRP) they are a good value and I don’t hesitate to recommend them.
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